Continuing the campaign

[carrdrivesyou]

SO...

I have been the DM of dozens of games, most of which have run from 1st to around 10th level. The game I am currently DMing started at 2nd, and now the players are at 13th. I am quickly getting out of my depth, and have completely run out of ideas. The players have all expressed great interest in continuing the game, but I have only run a handful of games this high. One made it to 15th, at which point I had no idea what a to throw at the party for a level appropriate challenge, the other started at 20th, and lasted only a few sessions (I had NO clue what I was doing). I am beginning to have the same issue here.

The story is pretty simple in my head, but I am having trouble putting it on paper. This is akin to writer's block methinks.
Anyone here have any ideas to help push past this?

[NevinPL]

Due to someones messing with space-time continuum, PC's didn't slay all those monsters, and are back at level 1, or some other. Allow them to rebuild\create different characters if they want, since their characters could take a "different road" in this new reality.
Now you can control the outcome:
- they fix the STC, and everything gets back to normal,
- they fix the STC, and everything gets back to normal, with minor discrepancies - a feat here, a spell there,
- they fix the STC, but changed some stuff along the way - a city here, a nation there,
- they don't fix it, and stay in the new reality forever,
- they don't fix it, and mess up badly - killing their grandfather before he became a father.


P.S.
I'm treating the ECL table from DMG as 4 level too high, so that could help you it making it a challenge.

[jiriku]

SO...

I have been the DM of dozens of games, most of which have run from 1st to around 10th level. The game I am currently DMing started at 2nd, and now the players are at 13th. I am quickly getting out of my depth, and have completely run out of ideas. The players have all expressed great interest in continuing the game, but I have only run a handful of games this high. One made it to 15th, at which point I had no idea what a to throw at the party for a level appropriate challenge, the other started at 20th, and lasted only a few sessions (I had NO clue what I was doing). I am beginning to have the same issue here.

The story is pretty simple in my head, but I am having trouble putting it on paper. This is akin to writer's block methinks.
Anyone here have any ideas to help push past this?

Your question is very general, and without specifics I can only give a general answer. But I will try.

We begin by brainstorming lists of things. Use scratch paper rather than a digital document so you can draw lines and get your creativity physically engaged. This should ideally take you about 15-20 minutes of brainstorming.

Organize each of these things into separate columns. Think big, and don't be afraid of grandiose ideas right now.

What are the five most interesting locations in your current game world where the PCs have already been?
What are the five most interesting locations that the PCs have not yet been (try to include several extraplanar locations, since high-level PCs have planar travel capabilities).
Who are the ten most interesting NPCs of CR 10 and higher that the players have at least heard of before?
For each NPC, what are two goals the NPC wants to accomplish? Feel free to duplicate plans. Perhaps two different NPCs desire to "invade the prime material plane". Perhaps one NPC desires to raise his long-lost love from the dead while another wants to make sure she stays dead.
For each goal, what are one or two resources the NPC needs? Feel free to duplicate resources. For example, perhaps three different NPCs need "a king's ransom in treaasure" or "control of the kingdom of X"

Now for the line-drawing. Draw arrows connecting NPCs to their goals, goals to their resources, and resources to the locations where they can be found. Perhaps also connect NPCs to their current locations if on the list. Or draw lines to represent alliances or enmity between NPCs. If some of your original ideas were crap, erase them. If you get new good ideas during this process, grab them.

Now, you have a plot web. If you did your job well this plot contains conflict. Some of your NPCs need to enter the power bases of rivals to get the resources they need. Some have mutually contradictory goals or are all competing for the same resource to accomplish their differing goals. They may need to cut deals, form alliances, defeat enemies, or make compromises. Opportunities exist for conflict and betrayal. Drama emerges.

Now for each NPCs or goal, ask yourself, "how can the PCs get involved here, either for good or for ill?" Scribble down quick answers. Perhaps an NPC will act as a patron or archenemy to the PCs, or beseech their aid. The villain may need a resource controlled by the PCs and may directly oppose them (or offer a trade of services) in an attempt to get it.

At this point, your game world should be coming alive. It is full of powerful people striving with and against one another for important resources in interesting locations. You're beginning to get an idea of how the PCs can engage with these things. That last bit is most important -- the actions of the PCs should be central to the games you run -- these NPCs and their goals exist primarily to form the backdrop for the heroic actions of PCs adventurers.

[Bonzai]

First accept that the party is now hitting the sweet spot in power, and it is going to only spiral out of control from there. Encounters will begin to take an hour to run, but last 2 to 3 rounds as the characters options expand and their actions get more and more complex. It may feel that you are not challenging the players enough, or that they are breezing through things. That may even be the case at times, but don't let it discourage you. Things have escalated, and if they don't lock down the encounter in the first few rounds, then it means something has gone very wrong for the party. So don't let their power intimidate you. They have worked hard for it level by level, and will now enjoy the fruits of their labor. D&D is a game of heroic fantasy, let them be the heroes.

The first rule that every DM should adhere to is that the players need to be having fun! Do that by creating the setting, making an interesting plot for the players to follow (bread crumbs not rails), and let the players have fun. Do not get into the DM vs players mindset. You create the playground, and the players get to interact with it. They WILL surprise you. They WILL come up with angles you hadn't considered. They WILL kill your pet NPC that you were setting up to become a recurring villain. Take it all in stride and adapt.

When it comes to writing the campaign, I start with the beginning, and jump to where I want it to end. Then I consider the steps needed to go from point A to point Z, and break them down into bite size pieces. Then fill in the gaps with level appropriate encounters that it makes sense for the party to go up against. With luck ideas will start to flow as you zero in on the specifics.

For an example I will share the first time I DM'ed for my current group. It was a FR campaign and Magic of the Incarnum had just come out. I wanted to explore builds and expose my players to it in an easily digestible manner. So I came up with the following plot;

Since the time of troubles, Cyric has been exploring alternate means of power as a hedge against Mystra. She cut him off from the weave once, so he was determined to find a source of power that she could not touch. In his searches he uncovered the ancient power of soul energy, aka Incarnum. In the ruins of ancient Narfel, there was a blue crystal plinth that resonated with Chaotic Evil soul energy. It was a source of power for the Demon Binders, and a relic on an ancient civilization that came before. Cyric devised a ritual with the plinth, and sent 13 of his most fanatic servants to under take it. They were bombarded with the soul energy of Cyrics followers. Liars, murderers, and the Mad, millions upon millions of souls screamed through their minds, and infused them with the ability to channel soul energy. Only their fanaticism preserved their minds, though it left them deeply disturbed afterwards. They became a knightly order devoted to Cyric, known as The Ebon Dawn. They performed the ritual upon captured prisoners and it destroyed their minds, becoming the poor creatures known as the Lost.

The Ebon Dawn then began raiding and emptying villages of people, turning them into an army of Lost. They also bolstered their ranks with Hobgoblin tribes from the Giantspire Mountains. With their preparations complete, they began an invasion of Impiltur. Impiltur was hit hard by the Year of Rogue Dragons and other events and was ripe for the taking. Before the Kingdom knew it, the North eastern portion of the country had been invaded.

Beginning: Party is at an inn in a small village in North Western Impultur along the trade roads going North and South, when it is attacked by a horde of lost.

Ending: Party has an epic showdown in an ancient fortress in Narfel to cut off the Ebon Dawns control of the Plinth and stop their flow of reinforcements.

Knowing where the beginning and end was helped make the story flow. The party investigates the attack, they learn of the enemy, and begin to encounter members of the Ebon Dawn themselves (a hodge podge of incarnum builds I wanted to try). They defended the town from further attack, alert the Impiltur army, and begin to track down the location of their fortress, leading to the end of the campaign.

The campaign went from lvl 1 to lvl 9. The party loved it, and wanted me to continue on with the campaign and their characters. So I came up with a second half. I created 7 more plinths, one for each of the other alignments, forming a great circle around Faerun. Each plinth was a relic of an ancient civilization that exemplified the alignment they were attuned to, and may have had more recent occupants as well. This started a Treasure hunt campaign, where the quest for each plinth was a mini adventure in and of it's self.

The End: Each plinth was connected by ley lines to a central temple. In it were the last altars to the ancient incarnum deities. One for each alignment. I tied it into the coming of 4th edition. One of the parties benefactors was secretly Savras. He foresaw the spell plague and wanted to re-awaken incarnum magic to help prepare the world when the weave was destroyed. The party was being prepared, along with various npc's they had encountered along the way, to take their place as the new Incarnum patheon. After attuning themselves to all 8 plinths and facing several trials the party ascended to divine rank 0, and were charged to go out and claim followers and disciples to prepare the world for what was coming.

We finished the Campaign at 23rd level, and the experience taught me a lot. This post has gone long. Hope it helps!